Full Name: Waylon Aksel Mehr From (Hometown): Dresden, Germany Gender: Male Ethnicity: Caucasian Traits (Appearance):
Dirty blonde hair
dark green eyes
5'9"
tan skin
155 lbs
Reason for coming on the plane: Waylon is a journalist. He's on his way to Rio to write about a recent murder that has taken place. Brief History (Criminal record, past): no criminal record. Anything else: He is 26, and already has divorced his wife of 3 years. Although he was born in Germany, he lives in Florida with his two year old son, Eddy. He is a single father.
DAY ONE
I struggle to push myself up from the sandy ground, my entire left side in excruciating pain from the crash that happened just mere minutes ago. I sit down cross legged and pull my left shirt sleeve up to look at my arm. The sight is hard to see. There's an uncountable amount of large scrapes and bruises scattered on my limb, presumably from my fall. I pull the sleeve back down and close my eyes. I start taking deep breaths to calm myself down, I know panicking in this situation will get me nowhere. I slowly start to think about what had just recently happened, but it was all hard to remember. The last thing I remember is the plane violently shaking. It was the most extreme turbulence I have ever experienced. I guess I must have just blacked out after that, as I don't remember what happened next.
The next thing I think about is my son, Eddy. I left him back in Florida with my sister looking after him. Eddy's mother asked if she could be the one staying with him for the week I was going to be gone, but there's no way I would let her near my son again. Not after what she did last time to him.
I promised my sister I would skype her and Eddy once I landed, but I severely doubt I can contact them on this deserted island the plane crashed on. Oh, how I wish I never took the opportunity to go to Brazil! The only thing I want to see right now is my sons smiling face.
But I can't think about that right now. Who knows how long I'm going to be trapped on this island for. I don't even know if anyone else survived the plane crash! I could be here alone for quite a while. I need to prepare for the worst, I need to think of ways I can stay alive as long as possible here.
That's when it hit me. When I was first getting into journalism, I interviewed a man named Alexander Selkirk, someone who survived being stranded on an island for 4 years and 4 months. I don't remember much from the interview, but he must have talked about some survival tactics he used. Thank God I decided to wear my drawstring bag on the flight. I open the bag and take out my journal, and flip through a few pages to find the interview I wrote down. It's time to survive.
DAY TWO
After a few hours of analyzing my past interview with Alexander Selkirk, I manage to write down a journal entry on the what type of fruits I'd be able to consume. On the left side of the paper I wrote down the names and descriptions of some of the more common poisonous berries, and on the right, common traits of non poisonous berries. I look over my list one last time and decide it's time to go scavenging for food.
I walk into the forest that was behind me and instantly see a bush that contains berries that are enclosed within an orange-yellow capsule. I check my list and identify the berries as Bittersweets, one of the poisonous berries. I sigh to myself and continue to walk through the forest when I spot a tree with small red berries on them. I recognize this as a Dogwood tree, and look into my notes to see what they say about them. Dogwood berries are not toxic when eaten, but there have been reports of rashes on skin after contact with the tree. It's getting late, and I don't feel like doing much more searching, so I decide these would have to suffice as my dinner for today. I'm not too worried about the rashes, they'll go away in due time if I clean them. perhaps I'll find more suitable berries tomorrow, when I'm well rested and the events from today can sink into my head. I collect quite a few of the small red berries in my drawstring bag and wander out of the forest. I sit in the same spot I was earlier and open up the bag once again and start snacking. I start worrying about my son and sister again, praying that they're okay. I want nothing more than to talk to them right now. That's my only wish.
Thinking about the possibility of them not being okay makes me lose my appetite, so I put my remaining berries in my bag, lie down, and try to sleep as much as I can.
DAY THREE
I wake up the next morning to a harsh stinging sensation on both my hands. I instantly remember the berries I chose to pick last night, the Dogwood berries. I guess Dogwood trees do give you pretty bad rashes. I walk up to the ocean and stick both my hands in and start rubbing them together. The pungent feeling of the salt water seeping into my rashes is painful, but I would have to suffer through if I wanted these rashes to go away. I also decide to gently put my face in the water in order to get rid of any dirt build up that I probably have gotten since landing on the island.
After I finish washing up, I think about what I should do for the day. The first thing that comes to mind is to go hunting, but picking up a bunch of dead gross animals with these rashes probably would give me some kind of infection on my hands, so I decide to hold off on the actual hunting of animals for a little bit. What if I just go out and see what kind of animals are out there? Not actually hunt them... just see what creatures I might be able to feast on at some point I thought. Of course, I don't have any weapons with me so if something dangerous comes I'll be completely out of luck.
After eating a few leftover dogwood berries and thinking through my conflicted thoughts, I decide that I will go venture off into the forest in hopes of finding some animals i could eat later on.
~*~*~*~
After a few hours of exploring in the forest, I decide to stop and rest. I open up my notebook and look at the few animals I have written down. Birds, monkeys, squirrels, raccoons, hedgehogs, rabbits, and wallabys. Feeling satisfied with my list, I decide it's time to turn around and head back. Once I turn around,I feel all the color from my face drain out in a second. My eyes widen. I am face to face with a tiger.
DAY FOUR
Why is this happening? Why, out of all people, do I have to go through this. First I get stuck on an island, then I get rashes on my hands while trying to search for berries, and now there is a tiger looking at me right in the face with a look of hunger in his eyes. I don't deserve this! I haven't done anything wrong! Why me! I think. I just can't believe what's in front of me. I back up slowly, trying my hardest not to make any movements that will startle the tiger and make him pounce on me. Maybe if I do this long enough, he'll lose interest in me and leave I think. But the tiger doesn't look like he's going to lose interest any time soon. I keep backing up slowly, but he keeps lurking towards me, flicking his tail with each step he takes. My movements suddenly stop as I find myself backed up against a large tree. And the tiger is still approaching! I do the first thing that comes to mind, drop down slowly to lay on the ground and pretend to be dead.
The tiger catches up to where I am and leans his head down to sniff me. Please don't bite me please don't bite me please don't bite me.The tiger lifts his head up, and when I think he's about to leave, he swats one of his paws with enormous force at my left side, making me roll over a few times to the right. The tiger approaches once again, sniffs, lifts his head up, and finally creeps away from me. I was so worn out after what had just happened that I felt extremely tired, and I fell asleep right there on the forest ground.
DAY FIVE
I wake up the next day on the cold forest ground. I sit up, and take in my surroundings. I see a bush to my left rustling. I go over towards the bush to see what was there, and I see something I can't believe. Something I haven't seen in quite a few days, and something I wasn't expecting to see for quite some time. I see my son.
"Eddy...." I say quietly. "Eddy!"
I rush over towards him, ready to give him a big, warm embrace. But that's when I stop in my tracks.
Eddy isn't there anymore. Instead his figure was replaced by a large lion. But... I swear I saw him... I swear I saw my son... Am I hallucinating? Am I going crazy?
I start bawling my eyes out. I could've sworn that was him. I start backing up, and the lion stays put, but his eyes are still watching my every move. I remember what happened with the tiger. Maybe this will turn out the same way. Maybe he'll just beat me up a bit and go on his merry way.
But those hopes are soon shattered when just a few seconds later, I feel the lion pounce on me, holding me down with all his force as he starts attacking me. This is it. I'm done for. I'm sorry I couldn't make it back home to you Eddy. I love you.
And with those thoughts and one final blow at my head from the lion, I'm out. And I never awoke again.
DAY SIX
Everything was dark and eerie after that. I couldn't see anything, everything was pitch black. That was, until, I saw a bright light. It was hard to look at, I had to squint while looking at it. I kept feeling my body gravitating towards the light. It kept getting brighter and brighter, I had to close my eyes because I was scared i'd go blind if I looked at it too long.
When I was finally fully emerged in the light I opened my eyes again. I took in my surroundings. Everything around me was white, and right ahead of me were tons of people, and ahead of them was a golden gate. I looked down at my feet, where I saw them on fluffy white clouds. I looked more closely at the gate in front of me, trying to read the words it said on the front. Heavens Gate. So I really am dead.
"Um, hello? Excuse me?!" I hear a voice say out of nowhere. It startled me, I wasn't expecting anyone to strike a conversation with me.
"Yeah?" I ask. Who is this guy?
"Sorry. I was wondering... are we in heaven?" he asked me.
"Yes, yes we are." I thought it was quite obvious, with the gate saying "Heavens Gate" and all. Who knows, maybe he's just really clueless. I try to strike up the conversation again. "I was killed recently by a hungry lion." "I was killed too! Well, I guess, .....by water lol." Water? That's interesting. "You were on the island! You were confronted by a tiger before, right?" What the heck? How does this guy know I was attacked by a tiger? Wait... was he on the island too? "Yeah." I reply simply. "Well, should we go inside?" he asked. I look ahead of me and see that we're both in front of the line now. "I guess." I mean, what else was there to do? So we walked in.
DAY SEVEN
After we walked in we both decided to look around. We stopped outside of a barber shop called "Angel Fade". This is weird... why is there a barber shop located so closely to the front gates? Why is there a barber shop in general?
"I never knew there was a barber shop in heaven." I said, wanting to start up a conversation.
"Let's go check it out." Dang, this guy has no hesitation.
We walk in and get greeted by a few workers. Our hairdresser was named Joseph. He led us to our seats and gave us some pink lemonade to sip on while our hair was getting done. Heaven wasn't all that bad... I could get used to this!
"Heaven's pretty awesome dude!" I said to the guy.
We started talking about all kinds of things. I learned that the guys name was Marcellino, and he knew me from the island. Apparently he saw me getting confronted by a tiger while he was up in a tree.
As much as I like being in heaven so far, I don't think I can stay here forever. Maybe I can go back to the island in ghost form or whatever. And maybe Marcellino could come, too! I really want to look more at the island, I wasn't able to check it out much while I was there. I would like to see some of the other survivors, since I've never met any while I was there.
And maybe after we check out the island I could go see my son and sister. God, I hope they're okay. I hope their reactions aren't too heartbreaking when they realize I'm never coming back home.
DAY EIGHT
Our appointment finished up quickly. I tried to pay for both our appointments together, but the guy at the front desk told us that everything in heaven is free. While we were getting our hair done, me and Marcellino thought about visiting the island again, but we didn't know how to do it. After we walked out of the salon, I decided to go back in and ask the guy at the front desk how to get there.
"Excuse me, but do you know how we could visit places on Earth in our spirit form?" I asked the man.
He let out a chuckle. "That's one of the most basic things spirits know how to do, I'm surprised you had to ask that question." I flush in embarrassment at his response. "It's real easy, you just have to jump off the clouds and glide yourself to your destination!" I thank the guy for the instructions as well as for doing our hair and exit the salon.
We say our thank yous and go to find somewhere where we can jump. We walk for a few minutes until we find the edge of the huge cloud we're on.
"I guess we just jump off here..." I said to Marcellino.
"Yeah! Well, what are we waiting for! Let's go!" He replied. This guy was waaay to adventurous. But I guess that's a good thing, he's loud and adventurous and I'm more quiet and cautious. We balance each other out nicely.
Marcellino is the first to jump, and I watch him fall for a couple seconds before I jump as well. It's time to see whats going down at the island.
DAY NINE
Flying through the sky was rough, I hit a couple birds on the way down and Marcellino hit a hot air balloon. It was definitely not as great as I used to think flying would be, but we eventually got to the island in one piece.
I landed with a loud thud on the ground and I looked all around for Marcellino but I couldn't see him anywhere. "Marcellino?!" I called out. A few seconds later, I saw him drop into the water. He floated to the top, and started screaming. "HELP ME! I'M HAVING FLASHBACKS OF WHEN I DROWNED AND DIED!" This guy is a trip.
"Do you not know how to swim?!" I called out to him. I quickly rushed into the water and grabbed him by his arm and pulled him out of the water. He seemed really relieved. We lied down on the ground and Marcellino started up a conversation.
"Thanks, Way!" he said to me. "Listen, a little bit ago, before we came to the island, I discovered that a man slept with my wife. He went onto the plane with us, and I was convinced that I would find him. I'm still keeping my promise to myself. I want to find him and haunt him."
"Yeah... sure man. I mean, that's a little weird, but why not? We can split up, I think I need some alone time. You go do your haunting thing, I'll go somewhere else. We can meet right here once it starts going dark, okay?" I asked.
"Yeah, sounds great!"
DAY TEN
I start walking back to the site that I used to always stay in when I was still alive. While I'm walking, I hear a group of people speaking a language I can't understand. They looked like they were planning on killing someone. I would love to help whoever they're planning on hurting, but I can't do anything now. And that hurts me.
When I finally get back to the site, I sit down. After a few mere seconds, I find myself bawling my eyes out. I wish I was alive. I start screaming now. I'm not supposed to be dead. I'm not even supposed to be on this island. I'm supposed to be back in Florida. No, I'm supposed to back in Dresden, my home town. With my son, my sister, and all of my friends. I can't stop freaking out. I don't think anyone has seen me like this before, and I don't want anyone to see me like this anytime soon. Thank god me and Marcellino decided to split up.
I want to go home. I want to be off this island. I want to be alive. Maybe I should go back to heaven without Marcellino and go to Florida to see my son by myself I think. No, that wouldn't be fair to Marcellino . I can just see him wandering around looking for me when it gets dark. I'd be a horrible person if I did that. So I'll just stay here. I'll wait it out until it gets dark, and then me and Marcellino can go back to heaven. And then we can go back to Florida! And Dresden! I get up and start walking. It might be a little while until it gets dark, so I decide to take a little walk around the island to explore it a little more, since I've never been able to see the whole island while I was alive.
DAY ELEVEN
I walk around and look at things as I go. I see quite a few people that I have never seen when I was alive. Quickly, though, I begin to get bored. I think about going back to heaven, but I still don't want to leave Marcellino here alone. He's the only friend I have now. Maybe I can go back to heaven and then when the sun starts going down I'll go back to the island to meet back up with Marcellino. Yeah, that sounds good!
I still don't know how to get back though, but I'll figure it out.
I first try just jumping. I tried jumping for about 5 minutes, each time striving to go higher. However, I was never able to fly back.
The next thing I think about doing is climbing a tree and jumping off of that.
So I did. I climb up a nearby coconut tree, close my eyes, count to three, and jump off. I float in the air for a couple seconds, but soon I come crashing onto the ground, landing on my still damaged left arm. I hiss in pain. Are you kidding me!? I still have my injuries even though I'm dead? Now I really have to go back to heaven... they probably have loads of hospitals back there. I slowly get up from the ground and start walking towards the forest. Inside there, I find a big evergreen tree. Maybe if I climb up a larger tree it'll work... it seemed like a stupid idea, but I was willing to try it. I really needed my arm bandaged up.
I walk up to the trunk of the tree and start climbing. Once I get to the top, I do exactly what I did before. I close my eyes, count to three, and jump off. This time, by body actually starts flying up into the sky! I try to control my movements, but it's quite hard since this is the first time I ever flew upwards.
I crash into a huge cloud and go blind for a couple seconds. When I can see again, I look around me. I'm back in heaven.
DAY TWELVE
I walk around heaven, deciding to explore it for a little bit before I go back to the island to meet up with Marcellino again. I saw an icecream parlor, and decided to sit down for a bit, eat a treat, and think about what I'm going to do tomorrow. I thought about visiting my son earlier, but now I'm not so sure that that's what I really want to do. I mean, I don't know if I can take it. Seeing my sons expression when he realizes his father isn't coming home, and seeing my sisters when she realizes her brother isn't might be too much for me to handle. I think I'm going to go anyway, I want to make sure they're both okay. Maybe I can visit my parents. I hope they're alright.
I look down and realize that my icecream is all gone. I look around and it appears to be getting dark, so I assume it's time to go back to the island.
I go to the edge of the cloud and jump off and start soaring back to the island. When I land, I land on my feet. I'm getting better at this. Nice.
I walk back to where me and Marcellino planned on meeting back up. Marcellino is already there.
"Dude, I've been waiting here for like... 20 minutes! Where have you been?!"
"Sorry man, I went back to heaven for a bit."
"What!? We were supposed to stay here for the day."
"I'm really sorry I left without telling you..." and I actually am. I feel like I betrayed the only friend I have now.
"It's fine. Let's just go back and figure out what to do next." He said. Thank god, it seemed like he wasn't that mad anymore.
DAY THIRTEEN
Back in heaven, Marcellino and I had a conversation about where to go next.
"So now that we're back here, what should we do?" he asked.
"Well... when I left the island to go back here without you, I went to this cool ice cream parlor called 'Yo Fresh in Yo Dreams'. We can go back there if you want?"
"Yeah sure, that sounds good. I'm pretty hungry anyway.
When we finished walking and got the ice cream parlor, we placed our orders.
"I'll have the heaven spice icecream, please!" Marcellino said after he spent some time looking at the options.
"And I'll have mint chocolate chip."
When we both got our ice creams we sat down.
"So... what should we discuss?" Marcellino asked.
"I don't know, how about we talk about where we want to go next?" I suggested, the idea of going back to Dresden still on my mind.
"Yeah, sure" he replied.
"I've been thinking about going back to Dresden for quite some time. I want to see how my son and sister are doing. I also want to see my parents."
"Sure, you can go do that. I'm not sure I want to go though, I'd have nothing to do there. I think I'll go back to Miami to see my wife." It sounded like a good plan.
"Yeah, that sounds good. How long do you want to stay there for?"
"How about two days?"
"Yeah, sounds great."
"And when those days are done, lets meet up in this icecream shop."
"Sounds like a plan."
After we finish eating, we both get up to leave. I find a comfortable cloud place, and decide to rest my head for tonight before I embark on tomorrows journey.
DAY FOURTEEN
I wake up and instantly regret my decision to go back to Dresden. I'm so nervous I feel like I'm going to throw up. But I should do it, I don't want to put off visiting my family any longer.
I jump off the cloud and begin guiding myself towards Dresden. I have butterflies in my stomach the whole way down. When I finally land, I look around. I can see all the colorful houses around me. I recognize this place. It's near where I live.
I walk down the street and turn left and I'm in my old neighborhood. I walk in front of my house and feel tears welling up in my eyes quickly. I blink them away and walk into the house. I hear screaming and crying coming from the kitchen. Eddy.
I run into the kitchen and see him. He's being coddled by my sister.
"Eddy, it's okay. Maybe your dad's flight just got delayed. He'll be home soon, he will. I know he will..." my sister said. Eddy just kept sobbing into her shoulder.
I wanted to break down and cry with him. "Hey... hey Eddy, I'm here. I'm home. Come here. Come to papa, give me a hug." I say. But he's unresponsive. He keeps crying. "Eddy, I'm here." still nothing. Of course he can't hear me, nobody hears ghosts! I drop to the floor and start sobbing, realizing I'll never have my son back in my arms ever again.
DAY FIFTEEN
It was about 11:00 at night, and Eddy was already asleep. My face still had tear stains on them from previous hours. I'm walking around the house, seeing images that are a little bit too painful for me to look at. I see pictures of me and my abusive wife, holding baby Eddy in my hands.
"Don't trust her, past Waylon. She'll beat up you and your son. She'll steal all your money and she'll cheat on you multiple times." I say to my past self in the picture. I've decided that I've looked at the framed picture long enough, so I take the picture off the shelf and throw it on the ground, hearing the glass from the frame break and shatter beneath me.
I walk up the stairs. I look at the pictures on the wall leading up the stairs. There's another picture of me and Eddy, but this time without my ex-wife in the picture. I remember when this picture was taken. It was taken a day after I woke up and first saw that my wife wasn't sleeping next to me. In the picture, my eyes were red from constant crying and rubbing. Eddy looked happy though, he had no idea.
As I walk up the stairs even further, I see pictures of my family, pictures of my parents. And at the top of the stairs, I see a brand new picture that wasn't there when I left for Rio. It's a picture of my sister and my son. I take the picture off the wall and flip it over. There, in black sharpie, is the words "please come home." I feel tears welling up in my eyes again, and I put the picture back in its place on the wall before I can start crying. I walk down the upper hallway and open the first door on the left. It's my sisters room. She's not sleeping, instead she's watching some youtube videos.
I close the door and walk further down the hallway, where I then open Eddy's room. He's sound asleep. I smile softly, glad that Eddy is only 2, so he's young enough that my death won't really affect him much in the future, since he probably won't remember me...
I close his door and walk into my old room. It's the exact way I left it, except the clothes that were on the floor were picked up and my bed was made. My sister must have done that. I get into my old bed and go to sleep, hoping, praying that when I wake up, I would be alive again.
DAY SIXTEEN
I awoke in my old bed at 7:00, about the time everyone else woke up. I walked down into the kitchen to see my sister making Eddy an omelette. I walked out the front door. It was time to get to my parents house.
Their house wasn't very far away. It was a little bit more down the neighborhood. My parents always wanted me to live close to them, they said it would make it easier for when they get old and I have to help them. Kinda sad that now I can't help them anymore, but I still want to see if they're doing alright.
I entered their house and it was exactly like how I remember. It had that dreadful yellow floral wallpaper and tile floors. It still smelled like moth balls.
I walked into the kitchen and see that my gifts I gave them a month ago weren't even used. I gave them cookies and flowers. Not even one cookie was eaten, and the flowers were dead from not being put into a vase. Rude.
I hear a crash coming from upstairs. I rushed up to see what was happening. And there I saw my mother. She was on the ground, having a stroke right in front of my eyes. And I couldn't do anything to help her.
DAY SEVENTEEN
My father rushed into the room after he heard the bang on the ground. He stood in shock for a couple seconds before he rushed over by her side. It took him a little bit to understand what was happening to her, but he finally realized and called an ambulance to come pick her up. I didn't cry. I didn't even flinch when I saw her fall. I'm so over it, all my tears were already used up. I just wanted to go back to heaven. It was much more simple up there. It's time for me to get over my life here on earth. It's over. It's done with.
I hear the ambulance come onto our drive way and decide it's time to leave. I walk out the room, go downstairs, and walk out the house. I don't ever want to come back here. It's too painful.
I jump up to go back to heaven. I look around for Marcellino again before I remember we agreed to meet back at the parlor, so I make my way back there.
DAY EIGHTEEN
Marcellino wasn't back yet, I assumed he would be here later. I walked around heaven to try and see anyone I recognized. It was unlikely, though. There were so many people here that it would be hard to find someone I knew. Or so I thought. I heard my name being called from an old and feeble sounding voice behind me. I turned around and saw my uncle Eli. He died about 2 years ago of prostate cancer. I was diagnosed with it as well, around two weeks before I went to the island. I assumed that when I died it would probably be because of that, who knew it would be from a lion on a deserted island!? I ran up to Eli and gave him a big hug. I was too scared to hug him too tightly because he was so skinny I thought he would just break.
"Hug me tighter boy! I haven't seen you in ages!" Uncle Eli said.
"I don't want to hurt you uncle!"
"What?! This is heaven. People don't get hurt here!"
I smiled at him and behind him I saw Marcellino approaching.
"I have to go uncle, but I'll catch up with you later!" I said, before I ran off to catch up with Marcellino.
DAY NINETEEN
I caught up with Marcellino. "Yo, who was that guy?" he asked me.
"Oh, just my uncle."
"Oh, sorry for interrupting your conversation. You can go back and talk to him more if you want."
"No, it's fine. We didn't really know each other very well anyway. I only saw him like once every two years."
We walked around the place for a little bit before he started talking again.
"So, how was it like back in Dresden?"
"I mean, it was alright. I didn't do too much. Just visited my family, y'know."
"Do you think you'lll ever want to go back?"
"God no, that was horrible. I felt so bad the whole time I was there!"
"Oh..."
"Yeah. How was it where you went?"
"I guess it was okay. I mean, I visited my wife. I don't know why I did, I felt so upset and betrayed the whole time since she slept with some guy I've never even seen."
"I'm sorry to hear about that."
"Nah, it's fine. Besides, there's probably way better and more loyal chicks up here anyway."
The talk of girls was getting on my nerves since the only one I've ever dated was my ex-wife, and I don't like to think about her too much, since she was abusive and all. So I just didn't respond to him, and we fell into a comfortable silence.
DAY TWENTY
I over heard someone talking, saying that the island I was on before only currently had two people left. That was crazy to me. I didn't even know there were other people on that island besides me and Marcellino. But apperantly there were thirty some on the island to begin with.
I think over my time there. From the very beginning when the plane crashed and I had to look over my interview with Alex. I thought I was going to survive back then. Little did I know.
I remember going into the forest, searching for berries. I tried so hard. I knew I could have survived longer if it wasn't for that lion. I didn't even see any lions that day I went into the forest to look for animals.
I remember that time I got beaten by a tiger. I easily got away from him, why couldn't I do that with the lion?
I didn't survive long enough. I really wish I did, because there are two people down there who are probably fighting for their lives, and I wish I could be there to help them. I wish I could have survived long enough to get a helicopter or something to see me and the other survivors to pick us up and take us off. But unfortunately, I died too early. And there's no way for me to go back. People keep saying the two people left, Brooklyn and Ryan, were going to die as well. Others thought only one would. It seemed like I was the only one who wanted them both to be okay. I want them both to survive.
DECEASED ON DAY FIVE - DID NOT WRITE
Full Name: Waylon Aksel Mehr
From (Hometown): Dresden, Germany
Gender: Male
Ethnicity: Caucasian
Traits (Appearance):
- Dirty blonde hair
- dark green eyes
- 5'9"
- tan skin
- 155 lbs
Reason for coming on the plane: Waylon is a journalist. He's on his way to Rio to write about a recent murder that has taken place.Brief History (Criminal record, past): no criminal record.
Anything else: He is 26, and already has divorced his wife of 3 years. Although he was born in Germany, he lives in Florida with his two year old son, Eddy. He is a single father.
DAY ONE
I struggle to push myself up from the sandy ground, my entire left side in excruciating pain from the crash that happened just mere minutes ago. I sit down cross legged and pull my left shirt sleeve up to look at my arm. The sight is hard to see. There's an uncountable amount of large scrapes and bruises scattered on my limb, presumably from my fall. I pull the sleeve back down and close my eyes. I start taking deep breaths to calm myself down, I know panicking in this situation will get me nowhere. I slowly start to think about what had just recently happened, but it was all hard to remember. The last thing I remember is the plane violently shaking. It was the most extreme turbulence I have ever experienced. I guess I must have just blacked out after that, as I don't remember what happened next.The next thing I think about is my son, Eddy. I left him back in Florida with my sister looking after him. Eddy's mother asked if she could be the one staying with him for the week I was going to be gone, but there's no way I would let her near my son again. Not after what she did last time to him.
I promised my sister I would skype her and Eddy once I landed, but I severely doubt I can contact them on this deserted island the plane crashed on. Oh, how I wish I never took the opportunity to go to Brazil! The only thing I want to see right now is my sons smiling face.
But I can't think about that right now. Who knows how long I'm going to be trapped on this island for. I don't even know if anyone else survived the plane crash! I could be here alone for quite a while. I need to prepare for the worst, I need to think of ways I can stay alive as long as possible here.
That's when it hit me. When I was first getting into journalism, I interviewed a man named Alexander Selkirk, someone who survived being stranded on an island for 4 years and 4 months. I don't remember much from the interview, but he must have talked about some survival tactics he used. Thank God I decided to wear my drawstring bag on the flight. I open the bag and take out my journal, and flip through a few pages to find the interview I wrote down. It's time to survive.
DAY TWO
After a few hours of analyzing my past interview with Alexander Selkirk, I manage to write down a journal entry on the what type of fruits I'd be able to consume. On the left side of the paper I wrote down the names and descriptions of some of the more common poisonous berries, and on the right, common traits of non poisonous berries. I look over my list one last time and decide it's time to go scavenging for food.I walk into the forest that was behind me and instantly see a bush that contains berries that are enclosed within an orange-yellow capsule. I check my list and identify the berries as Bittersweets, one of the poisonous berries. I sigh to myself and continue to walk through the forest when I spot a tree with small red berries on them. I recognize this as a Dogwood tree, and look into my notes to see what they say about them.
Dogwood berries are not toxic when eaten, but there have been reports of rashes on skin after contact with the tree. It's getting late, and I don't feel like doing much more searching, so I decide these would have to suffice as my dinner for today. I'm not too worried about the rashes, they'll go away in due time if I clean them. perhaps I'll find more suitable berries tomorrow, when I'm well rested and the events from today can sink into my head. I collect quite a few of the small red berries in my drawstring bag and wander out of the forest. I sit in the same spot I was earlier and open up the bag once again and start snacking. I start worrying about my son and sister again, praying that they're okay. I want nothing more than to talk to them right now. That's my only wish.
Thinking about the possibility of them not being okay makes me lose my appetite, so I put my remaining berries in my bag, lie down, and try to sleep as much as I can.
DAY THREE
I wake up the next morning to a harsh stinging sensation on both my hands. I instantly remember the berries I chose to pick last night, the Dogwood berries. I guess Dogwood trees do give you pretty bad rashes. I walk up to the ocean and stick both my hands in and start rubbing them together. The pungent feeling of the salt water seeping into my rashes is painful, but I would have to suffer through if I wanted these rashes to go away. I also decide to gently put my face in the water in order to get rid of any dirt build up that I probably have gotten since landing on the island.After I finish washing up, I think about what I should do for the day. The first thing that comes to mind is to go hunting, but picking up a bunch of dead gross animals with these rashes probably would give me some kind of infection on my hands, so I decide to hold off on the actual hunting of animals for a little bit. What if I just go out and see what kind of animals are out there? Not actually hunt them... just see what creatures I might be able to feast on at some point I thought. Of course, I don't have any weapons with me so if something dangerous comes I'll be completely out of luck.
After eating a few leftover dogwood berries and thinking through my conflicted thoughts, I decide that I will go venture off into the forest in hopes of finding some animals i could eat later on.
~*~*~*~
After a few hours of exploring in the forest, I decide to stop and rest. I open up my notebook and look at the few animals I have written down. Birds, monkeys, squirrels, raccoons, hedgehogs, rabbits, and wallabys. Feeling satisfied with my list, I decide it's time to turn around and head back. Once I turn around,I feel all the color from my face drain out in a second. My eyes widen. I am face to face with a tiger.
DAY FOUR
Why is this happening? Why, out of all people, do I have to go through this. First I get stuck on an island, then I get rashes on my hands while trying to search for berries, and now there is a tiger looking at me right in the face with a look of hunger in his eyes. I don't deserve this! I haven't done anything wrong! Why me! I think. I just can't believe what's in front of me. I back up slowly, trying my hardest not to make any movements that will startle the tiger and make him pounce on me. Maybe if I do this long enough, he'll lose interest in me and leave I think. But the tiger doesn't look like he's going to lose interest any time soon. I keep backing up slowly, but he keeps lurking towards me, flicking his tail with each step he takes. My movements suddenly stop as I find myself backed up against a large tree. And the tiger is still approaching! I do the first thing that comes to mind, drop down slowly to lay on the ground and pretend to be dead.The tiger catches up to where I am and leans his head down to sniff me. Please don't bite me please don't bite me please don't bite me.The tiger lifts his head up, and when I think he's about to leave, he swats one of his paws with enormous force at my left side, making me roll over a few times to the right. The tiger approaches once again, sniffs, lifts his head up, and finally creeps away from me. I was so worn out after what had just happened that I felt extremely tired, and I fell asleep right there on the forest ground.
DAY FIVE
I wake up the next day on the cold forest ground. I sit up, and take in my surroundings. I see a bush to my left rustling. I go over towards the bush to see what was there, and I see something I can't believe. Something I haven't seen in quite a few days, and something I wasn't expecting to see for quite some time. I see my son."Eddy...." I say quietly. "Eddy!"
I rush over towards him, ready to give him a big, warm embrace. But that's when I stop in my tracks.
Eddy isn't there anymore. Instead his figure was replaced by a large lion.
But... I swear I saw him... I swear I saw my son... Am I hallucinating? Am I going crazy?
I start bawling my eyes out. I could've sworn that was him. I start backing up, and the lion stays put, but his eyes are still watching my every move. I remember what happened with the tiger. Maybe this will turn out the same way. Maybe he'll just beat me up a bit and go on his merry way.
But those hopes are soon shattered when just a few seconds later, I feel the lion pounce on me, holding me down with all his force as he starts attacking me.
This is it. I'm done for. I'm sorry I couldn't make it back home to you Eddy. I love you.
And with those thoughts and one final blow at my head from the lion, I'm out. And I never awoke again.
DAY SIX
Everything was dark and eerie after that. I couldn't see anything, everything was pitch black. That was, until, I saw a bright light. It was hard to look at, I had to squint while looking at it. I kept feeling my body gravitating towards the light. It kept getting brighter and brighter, I had to close my eyes because I was scared i'd go blind if I looked at it too long.When I was finally fully emerged in the light I opened my eyes again. I took in my surroundings. Everything around me was white, and right ahead of me were tons of people, and ahead of them was a golden gate. I looked down at my feet, where I saw them on fluffy white clouds. I looked more closely at the gate in front of me, trying to read the words it said on the front.
Heavens Gate. So I really am dead.
"Um, hello? Excuse me?!" I hear a voice say out of nowhere. It startled me, I wasn't expecting anyone to strike a conversation with me.
"Yeah?" I ask. Who is this guy?
"Sorry. I was wondering... are we in heaven?" he asked me.
"Yes, yes we are." I thought it was quite obvious, with the gate saying "Heavens Gate" and all. Who knows, maybe he's just really clueless. I try to strike up the conversation again. "I was killed recently by a hungry lion."
"I was killed too! Well, I guess, .....by water lol." Water? That's interesting. "You were on the island! You were confronted by a tiger before, right?" What the heck? How does this guy know I was attacked by a tiger? Wait... was he on the island too?
"Yeah." I reply simply.
"Well, should we go inside?" he asked.
I look ahead of me and see that we're both in front of the line now. "I guess." I mean, what else was there to do?
So we walked in.
DAY SEVEN
After we walked in we both decided to look around. We stopped outside of a barber shop called "Angel Fade". This is weird... why is there a barber shop located so closely to the front gates? Why is there a barber shop in general?"I never knew there was a barber shop in heaven." I said, wanting to start up a conversation.
"Let's go check it out." Dang, this guy has no hesitation.
We walk in and get greeted by a few workers. Our hairdresser was named Joseph. He led us to our seats and gave us some pink lemonade to sip on while our hair was getting done. Heaven wasn't all that bad... I could get used to this!
"Heaven's pretty awesome dude!" I said to the guy.
We started talking about all kinds of things. I learned that the guys name was Marcellino, and he knew me from the island. Apparently he saw me getting confronted by a tiger while he was up in a tree.
As much as I like being in heaven so far, I don't think I can stay here forever. Maybe I can go back to the island in ghost form or whatever. And maybe Marcellino could come, too! I really want to look more at the island, I wasn't able to check it out much while I was there. I would like to see some of the other survivors, since I've never met any while I was there.
And maybe after we check out the island I could go see my son and sister. God, I hope they're okay. I hope their reactions aren't too heartbreaking when they realize I'm never coming back home.
DAY EIGHT
Our appointment finished up quickly. I tried to pay for both our appointments together, but the guy at the front desk told us that everything in heaven is free. While we were getting our hair done, me and Marcellino thought about visiting the island again, but we didn't know how to do it. After we walked out of the salon, I decided to go back in and ask the guy at the front desk how to get there."Excuse me, but do you know how we could visit places on Earth in our spirit form?" I asked the man.
He let out a chuckle. "That's one of the most basic things spirits know how to do, I'm surprised you had to ask that question." I flush in embarrassment at his response. "It's real easy, you just have to jump off the clouds and glide yourself to your destination!" I thank the guy for the instructions as well as for doing our hair and exit the salon.
We say our thank yous and go to find somewhere where we can jump. We walk for a few minutes until we find the edge of the huge cloud we're on.
"I guess we just jump off here..." I said to Marcellino.
"Yeah! Well, what are we waiting for! Let's go!" He replied. This guy was waaay to adventurous. But I guess that's a good thing, he's loud and adventurous and I'm more quiet and cautious. We balance each other out nicely.
Marcellino is the first to jump, and I watch him fall for a couple seconds before I jump as well. It's time to see whats going down at the island.
DAY NINE
Flying through the sky was rough, I hit a couple birds on the way down and Marcellino hit a hot air balloon. It was definitely not as great as I used to think flying would be, but we eventually got to the island in one piece.I landed with a loud thud on the ground and I looked all around for Marcellino but I couldn't see him anywhere. "Marcellino?!" I called out. A few seconds later, I saw him drop into the water. He floated to the top, and started screaming. "HELP ME! I'M HAVING FLASHBACKS OF WHEN I DROWNED AND DIED!" This guy is a trip.
"Do you not know how to swim?!" I called out to him. I quickly rushed into the water and grabbed him by his arm and pulled him out of the water. He seemed really relieved. We lied down on the ground and Marcellino started up a conversation.
"Thanks, Way!" he said to me. "Listen, a little bit ago, before we came to the island, I discovered that a man slept with my wife. He went onto the plane with us, and I was convinced that I would find him. I'm still keeping my promise to myself. I want to find him and haunt him."
"Yeah... sure man. I mean, that's a little weird, but why not? We can split up, I think I need some alone time. You go do your haunting thing, I'll go somewhere else. We can meet right here once it starts going dark, okay?" I asked.
"Yeah, sounds great!"
DAY TEN
I start walking back to the site that I used to always stay in when I was still alive. While I'm walking, I hear a group of people speaking a language I can't understand. They looked like they were planning on killing someone. I would love to help whoever they're planning on hurting, but I can't do anything now. And that hurts me.When I finally get back to the site, I sit down. After a few mere seconds, I find myself bawling my eyes out. I wish I was alive. I start screaming now. I'm not supposed to be dead. I'm not even supposed to be on this island. I'm supposed to be back in Florida. No, I'm supposed to back in Dresden, my home town. With my son, my sister, and all of my friends. I can't stop freaking out. I don't think anyone has seen me like this before, and I don't want anyone to see me like this anytime soon. Thank god me and Marcellino decided to split up.
I want to go home. I want to be off this island. I want to be alive. Maybe I should go back to heaven without Marcellino and go to Florida to see my son by myself I think. No, that wouldn't be fair to Marcellino . I can just see him wandering around looking for me when it gets dark. I'd be a horrible person if I did that. So I'll just stay here. I'll wait it out until it gets dark, and then me and Marcellino can go back to heaven. And then we can go back to Florida! And Dresden! I get up and start walking. It might be a little while until it gets dark, so I decide to take a little walk around the island to explore it a little more, since I've never been able to see the whole island while I was alive.
DAY ELEVEN
I walk around and look at things as I go. I see quite a few people that I have never seen when I was alive. Quickly, though, I begin to get bored. I think about going back to heaven, but I still don't want to leave Marcellino here alone. He's the only friend I have now. Maybe I can go back to heaven and then when the sun starts going down I'll go back to the island to meet back up with Marcellino. Yeah, that sounds good!I still don't know how to get back though, but I'll figure it out.
I first try just jumping. I tried jumping for about 5 minutes, each time striving to go higher. However, I was never able to fly back.
The next thing I think about doing is climbing a tree and jumping off of that.
So I did. I climb up a nearby coconut tree, close my eyes, count to three, and jump off. I float in the air for a couple seconds, but soon I come crashing onto the ground, landing on my still damaged left arm. I hiss in pain. Are you kidding me!? I still have my injuries even though I'm dead? Now I really have to go back to heaven... they probably have loads of hospitals back there. I slowly get up from the ground and start walking towards the forest. Inside there, I find a big evergreen tree. Maybe if I climb up a larger tree it'll work... it seemed like a stupid idea, but I was willing to try it. I really needed my arm bandaged up.
I walk up to the trunk of the tree and start climbing. Once I get to the top, I do exactly what I did before. I close my eyes, count to three, and jump off. This time, by body actually starts flying up into the sky! I try to control my movements, but it's quite hard since this is the first time I ever flew upwards.
I crash into a huge cloud and go blind for a couple seconds. When I can see again, I look around me. I'm back in heaven.
DAY TWELVE
I walk around heaven, deciding to explore it for a little bit before I go back to the island to meet up with Marcellino again. I saw an icecream parlor, and decided to sit down for a bit, eat a treat, and think about what I'm going to do tomorrow. I thought about visiting my son earlier, but now I'm not so sure that that's what I really want to do. I mean, I don't know if I can take it. Seeing my sons expression when he realizes his father isn't coming home, and seeing my sisters when she realizes her brother isn't might be too much for me to handle. I think I'm going to go anyway, I want to make sure they're both okay. Maybe I can visit my parents. I hope they're alright.I look down and realize that my icecream is all gone. I look around and it appears to be getting dark, so I assume it's time to go back to the island.
I go to the edge of the cloud and jump off and start soaring back to the island. When I land, I land on my feet. I'm getting better at this. Nice.
I walk back to where me and Marcellino planned on meeting back up. Marcellino is already there.
"Dude, I've been waiting here for like... 20 minutes! Where have you been?!"
"Sorry man, I went back to heaven for a bit."
"What!? We were supposed to stay here for the day."
"I'm really sorry I left without telling you..." and I actually am. I feel like I betrayed the only friend I have now.
"It's fine. Let's just go back and figure out what to do next." He said. Thank god, it seemed like he wasn't that mad anymore.
DAY THIRTEEN
Back in heaven, Marcellino and I had a conversation about where to go next."So now that we're back here, what should we do?" he asked.
"Well... when I left the island to go back here without you, I went to this cool ice cream parlor called 'Yo Fresh in Yo Dreams'. We can go back there if you want?"
"Yeah sure, that sounds good. I'm pretty hungry anyway.
When we finished walking and got the ice cream parlor, we placed our orders.
"I'll have the heaven spice icecream, please!" Marcellino said after he spent some time looking at the options.
"And I'll have mint chocolate chip."
When we both got our ice creams we sat down.
"So... what should we discuss?" Marcellino asked.
"I don't know, how about we talk about where we want to go next?" I suggested, the idea of going back to Dresden still on my mind.
"Yeah, sure" he replied.
"I've been thinking about going back to Dresden for quite some time. I want to see how my son and sister are doing. I also want to see my parents."
"Sure, you can go do that. I'm not sure I want to go though, I'd have nothing to do there. I think I'll go back to Miami to see my wife." It sounded like a good plan.
"Yeah, that sounds good. How long do you want to stay there for?"
"How about two days?"
"Yeah, sounds great."
"And when those days are done, lets meet up in this icecream shop."
"Sounds like a plan."
After we finish eating, we both get up to leave. I find a comfortable cloud place, and decide to rest my head for tonight before I embark on tomorrows journey.
DAY FOURTEEN
I wake up and instantly regret my decision to go back to Dresden. I'm so nervous I feel like I'm going to throw up. But I should do it, I don't want to put off visiting my family any longer.I jump off the cloud and begin guiding myself towards Dresden. I have butterflies in my stomach the whole way down. When I finally land, I look around. I can see all the colorful houses around me. I recognize this place. It's near where I live.
I walk down the street and turn left and I'm in my old neighborhood. I walk in front of my house and feel tears welling up in my eyes quickly. I blink them away and walk into the house. I hear screaming and crying coming from the kitchen. Eddy.
I run into the kitchen and see him. He's being coddled by my sister.
"Eddy, it's okay. Maybe your dad's flight just got delayed. He'll be home soon, he will. I know he will..." my sister said. Eddy just kept sobbing into her shoulder.
I wanted to break down and cry with him. "Hey... hey Eddy, I'm here. I'm home. Come here. Come to papa, give me a hug." I say. But he's unresponsive. He keeps crying. "Eddy, I'm here." still nothing. Of course he can't hear me, nobody hears ghosts! I drop to the floor and start sobbing, realizing I'll never have my son back in my arms ever again.
DAY FIFTEEN
It was about 11:00 at night, and Eddy was already asleep. My face still had tear stains on them from previous hours. I'm walking around the house, seeing images that are a little bit too painful for me to look at. I see pictures of me and my abusive wife, holding baby Eddy in my hands."Don't trust her, past Waylon. She'll beat up you and your son. She'll steal all your money and she'll cheat on you multiple times." I say to my past self in the picture. I've decided that I've looked at the framed picture long enough, so I take the picture off the shelf and throw it on the ground, hearing the glass from the frame break and shatter beneath me.
I walk up the stairs. I look at the pictures on the wall leading up the stairs. There's another picture of me and Eddy, but this time without my ex-wife in the picture. I remember when this picture was taken. It was taken a day after I woke up and first saw that my wife wasn't sleeping next to me. In the picture, my eyes were red from constant crying and rubbing. Eddy looked happy though, he had no idea.
As I walk up the stairs even further, I see pictures of my family, pictures of my parents. And at the top of the stairs, I see a brand new picture that wasn't there when I left for Rio. It's a picture of my sister and my son. I take the picture off the wall and flip it over. There, in black sharpie, is the words "please come home." I feel tears welling up in my eyes again, and I put the picture back in its place on the wall before I can start crying. I walk down the upper hallway and open the first door on the left. It's my sisters room. She's not sleeping, instead she's watching some youtube videos.
I close the door and walk further down the hallway, where I then open Eddy's room. He's sound asleep. I smile softly, glad that Eddy is only 2, so he's young enough that my death won't really affect him much in the future, since he probably won't remember me...
I close his door and walk into my old room. It's the exact way I left it, except the clothes that were on the floor were picked up and my bed was made. My sister must have done that. I get into my old bed and go to sleep, hoping, praying that when I wake up, I would be alive again.
DAY SIXTEEN
I awoke in my old bed at 7:00, about the time everyone else woke up. I walked down into the kitchen to see my sister making Eddy an omelette. I walked out the front door. It was time to get to my parents house.Their house wasn't very far away. It was a little bit more down the neighborhood. My parents always wanted me to live close to them, they said it would make it easier for when they get old and I have to help them. Kinda sad that now I can't help them anymore, but I still want to see if they're doing alright.
I entered their house and it was exactly like how I remember. It had that dreadful yellow floral wallpaper and tile floors. It still smelled like moth balls.
I walked into the kitchen and see that my gifts I gave them a month ago weren't even used. I gave them cookies and flowers. Not even one cookie was eaten, and the flowers were dead from not being put into a vase. Rude.
I hear a crash coming from upstairs. I rushed up to see what was happening. And there I saw my mother. She was on the ground, having a stroke right in front of my eyes. And I couldn't do anything to help her.
DAY SEVENTEEN
My father rushed into the room after he heard the bang on the ground. He stood in shock for a couple seconds before he rushed over by her side. It took him a little bit to understand what was happening to her, but he finally realized and called an ambulance to come pick her up. I didn't cry. I didn't even flinch when I saw her fall. I'm so over it, all my tears were already used up. I just wanted to go back to heaven. It was much more simple up there. It's time for me to get over my life here on earth. It's over. It's done with.I hear the ambulance come onto our drive way and decide it's time to leave. I walk out the room, go downstairs, and walk out the house. I don't ever want to come back here. It's too painful.
I jump up to go back to heaven. I look around for Marcellino again before I remember we agreed to meet back at the parlor, so I make my way back there.
DAY EIGHTEEN
Marcellino wasn't back yet, I assumed he would be here later. I walked around heaven to try and see anyone I recognized. It was unlikely, though. There were so many people here that it would be hard to find someone I knew. Or so I thought. I heard my name being called from an old and feeble sounding voice behind me. I turned around and saw my uncle Eli. He died about 2 years ago of prostate cancer. I was diagnosed with it as well, around two weeks before I went to the island. I assumed that when I died it would probably be because of that, who knew it would be from a lion on a deserted island!? I ran up to Eli and gave him a big hug. I was too scared to hug him too tightly because he was so skinny I thought he would just break."Hug me tighter boy! I haven't seen you in ages!" Uncle Eli said.
"I don't want to hurt you uncle!"
"What?! This is heaven. People don't get hurt here!"
I smiled at him and behind him I saw Marcellino approaching.
"I have to go uncle, but I'll catch up with you later!" I said, before I ran off to catch up with Marcellino.
DAY NINETEEN
I caught up with Marcellino. "Yo, who was that guy?" he asked me."Oh, just my uncle."
"Oh, sorry for interrupting your conversation. You can go back and talk to him more if you want."
"No, it's fine. We didn't really know each other very well anyway. I only saw him like once every two years."
We walked around the place for a little bit before he started talking again.
"So, how was it like back in Dresden?"
"I mean, it was alright. I didn't do too much. Just visited my family, y'know."
"Do you think you'lll ever want to go back?"
"God no, that was horrible. I felt so bad the whole time I was there!"
"Oh..."
"Yeah. How was it where you went?"
"I guess it was okay. I mean, I visited my wife. I don't know why I did, I felt so upset and betrayed the whole time since she slept with some guy I've never even seen."
"I'm sorry to hear about that."
"Nah, it's fine. Besides, there's probably way better and more loyal chicks up here anyway."
The talk of girls was getting on my nerves since the only one I've ever dated was my ex-wife, and I don't like to think about her too much, since she was abusive and all. So I just didn't respond to him, and we fell into a comfortable silence.
DAY TWENTY
I over heard someone talking, saying that the island I was on before only currently had two people left. That was crazy to me. I didn't even know there were other people on that island besides me and Marcellino. But apperantly there were thirty some on the island to begin with.I think over my time there. From the very beginning when the plane crashed and I had to look over my interview with Alex. I thought I was going to survive back then. Little did I know.
I remember going into the forest, searching for berries. I tried so hard. I knew I could have survived longer if it wasn't for that lion. I didn't even see any lions that day I went into the forest to look for animals.
I remember that time I got beaten by a tiger. I easily got away from him, why couldn't I do that with the lion?
I didn't survive long enough. I really wish I did, because there are two people down there who are probably fighting for their lives, and I wish I could be there to help them. I wish I could have survived long enough to get a helicopter or something to see me and the other survivors to pick us up and take us off. But unfortunately, I died too early. And there's no way for me to go back. People keep saying the two people left, Brooklyn and Ryan, were going to die as well. Others thought only one would. It seemed like I was the only one who wanted them both to be okay. I want them both to survive.